Monday, January 26, 2004

On 5/10/2003, at the height of SARS scares, 5 Asian Am.teachers were turned away by 2 NJ schools from fulfilling theirCONTRACTUAL obligations. Imagine if you are told to go homefrom your work, because people of Asian descent are the primesuspects owing to the SARS hysteria. Such a precedent mustNOT be allowed.80-20 NEGOTIATED on the phone (not just writing a letter)with the school superintendent to get 1) a public apology, 2) backpay, 3) reinstitution of the program, and 4) a school district-wideeducational program to combat SARS hysteria.

(2) 80-20 Opens Your Path To Equal Opportunity:

All viable Democratic presidential candidates pledged in writingthat upon being the president they will enforce E.O. 11246 toprovide equal opportunity in workplaces for Asian Americans.Currently it is enforced for all other Americans except us.80-20 is confident that President Bush will soon sign it too.At least, the National Chairman of AAPI for Bush/Cheney 2004,John Tsu, agreed, as was reported in the 1/17/04 issue of TheWorld Journal.In ten years, the number of APA Exec/Administrators isestimated to increase by a factor of 3. The glass-ceilingshall be shattered!

(3) 80-20 Protects Your Personal Dignity:

The N-gger word is no longer used against blacks. Words likeChinaman, Jap & Chink will not be used against you withimpunity so long as 80-20 is around. 80-20 has the leadership toprotect your dignity effectively, while turning those who hadused those words inadvertently into friends.

You have yearned for a powerful APA organization to stand up foryou. You've got it in 80-20, although our mission is not yetaccomplished. NOW PLEASE PUT YOUR SHOULDERS BEHIND80-20 AND PUSH! Do YOUR share.

Any US citizen or P.R. may JOIN NOW, using a credit card:http://www.80-20initiative.net/membership.html orhttp://www.80-20.info/membership.html .PERSONAL checks are payable to "80-20 PAC", mailed to:Jing-Li Yu, 80-20 special Assistant,P.O. Box 527340 Flushing, NY 11352-7340 .Write your E-MAIL address & PHONE no. on the BACK of the check.

Thursday, January 22, 2004

TWO VERY DIFFERENT types of responses came to 80-20, after the earlier e-mail entitled "Yao Ming Called A Chinaxxx."

THE FIRST GROUP of responses were most positive. They thanked80-20 for standing up for our community and its great effectiveness.

THE SECOND GROUP were from APAs who were puzzled over whyChinaxxx was a bad term; some even accused 80-20 of being toosensitive. A typical response was: "I was from China. I am a man.What is wrong with being called a Chinaxxx? Why are Frenchman andEnglishman acceptable, but not Chinaxxx?"

Such questions probably came mostly from first generationimmigrants. Their puzzlement is most understandable. 80-20 usesthis occasion to let our diverse community -- from the 1st to perhapsthe 6th generation immigrants – know why the term Chinaman isderogatory.

The English language is defined by its dictionaries, not byindividuals. The most authoritative dictionary in English is Webster.Webster (10th edition) definesN-gger: a black person - usu. taken to be offensive;Chinaman: Chinese - often taken to be offensive.

The term "Chinaxxx" has a long & sad history in this country.Chinaman didn't have a bad connotation a long time ago. It wasused just like Englishman and Frenchman. However, in 1853,conviction of killers for the murder of Ling Sing was OVERturned onthe grounds that testimony from the "INFERIOR CASTE OF PEOPLE WHOWERE NON-CITIZENS, " should be thrown out. It meant that Chinesetestimony against the whites was not admissible. Once that legalprecedent was set, the whites learnt that they could terrorize Chinesewithout fear of legal consequences. Numerous such incidentshappened. Thereafter, the phrase "not a Chinaxxx's chance" wascoined, meaning "not much of a chance." The word "Chinaxxx"became an offensive term to Chinese Americans and probably to allChinese.

- - - - - - - -LETTER OF APOLOGY FROM MR. STEVE KERR:

Mr. Steven Kerr who reacted to his inadvertent mistake admirablyjust requested that I publicize his letter of apology. He told me thathe has reached Yao Ming who has accepted his apology. His letterwhich reached me this morning, after his verbal apology of yesterdayis shown below. I hope that our entire community will now accept hisapology.

"Dear Mr. Woo,First of all, let me apologize again for my mistake duringMonday night's telecast. I have felt horrible all day long todayknowing that I offended many people. I assure you I wasunaware that my choice of words was inappropriate, and in noway did I use it maliciously. As I mentioned earlier, I was usingthe term the same way I would use 'Frenchman' or 'Englishman',and I was totally unaware that the word I used is a derogatoryone dating back to the 19th century.

I am ashamed of what happened, especially since I take greatpride in being extremely open minded and tolerant. I havespent a good part of my life living in foreign countries and Ihave respect for all cultures, races and religions. My sister in lawis Chinese American, and my brother in law is a respectedChinese history scholar at Cambridge University in England.One of my best friends, in fact, is also Chinese American. I calledthem all today to explain what happened.

Anyway, I have already planned to apologize to Yao Ming, andI will attempt to call him today. As you know he is a difficultperson to reach, but I will do my best to talk to him, or at leastto his interpreter Cxxxx Pxxx. I will let you know if I'm able tocontact Yao Ming. In the meantime, I wish you the best of luckand I apologize again for this matter.

Also, thank you very much for not making this a public issue.I realize that you have every right to do so, and the fact thatYou have not is saving me great embarrassment. Thank you somuch for that. I will do my best to let people know that thephrase I used is inappropriate because of the context in which itwas used in the past.

Tuesday, January 20, 2004

(1) At 3:00 p.m. today, 80-20 obtained concrete evidence that Steve Kerr, a TNT broadcaster, described Ming Yao as a "7'6" Chinaman." At 4:15 p.m., 80-20- staff Jing-Li Yu left words with the secretary of TNT CEO, Philip I. Kent, that 80-20 President S. B. Woo wanted to be called regarding the incident.

At 5:45 p.m., TNT Senior VP Jeff Banky and Broadcaster Steve Kerr called S. B. at his home and apologized profusely. They asked him to in turn convey their apologies to the Asian American community. It seemed obvious that Kerr didn't know that Chinaman, unlike Frenchman and Englishman, was a derogatory term. S.B. accepted the apology with the condition that Mr. Kerr also called Ming Yao to apologize. S.B. also requested that Mr. Kerr to publicize, whenever appropriate, the impropriety of using derogatory terms in describing minorities. Mr. Kerr agreed. 80-20 TURNED A NEGATIVE CASE INTO A POSITIVE ONE IN 2 HOURS AND 45 MINUTES.

(2) A couple of months ago, General Wesley Clark also inadvertently used Chinaman together with the term Frenchman in an radio interview. Upon an e-mail from S. B., Gen. Clark called S.B. at his home to apologize. SB was impressed with General Clark's sincerity and his sensitivity towards minority concerns. ANOTHER INSTANCE THAT 80-20 TURNS A NEGATIVE EVENT TO A POSITIVE ONE.

(3) After learning about General Clark's apology, An Army Major e- mailed SB to let him know that a terrain in the Army map of Fort Irwin in the California Mojave Desert is designated "Chinaman's Hat." Upon learning that S. B. requested Julia Wan, a new Board Member to work with the Army to delete the name. A month ago, Brigadier General Joseph Fil, Jr. e-mailed Julia stating "The computerized data base from which they (the maps in question) are produced has already been changed, and no longer contains the Chinaman's Hat moniker. " YET ANOTHER HAPPY CASE HANDLED BY 80-20 ON BEHALF OF OUR COMMUNITY.

JOIN 80-20!!! Any US citizen or permanent resident can be a member using a credit card, visithttp://www.80-20initiative.net/membership.html orhttp://www.80-20.info/membership.html .

Saturday, January 17, 2004

James Chang of Newport Beach, CA just became our 100th LifeMember. He upgraded his Basic membership to LIFE membership. Thestock market is up. 80-20's achievement is worthy of your support.Hope that YOU will consider supporting as a Life Member (from $1000to $10,000 per membership). Together we shall overcome.See http://www.80-20initiative.net/members.html

(B) Grand Slam in winning over Dem. presidential candidates:

ALL viable Democratic presidential candidates responded to 80-20'squestionnaire with yes/yes/yes. They are, in order of promptness inresponse, where (1) means the earliest:

If a Democrat is elected the president in 2004, the federalgovernment will employ its immense power through ExecutiveOrder 11246 to help Asian Americans break the glass ceiling. Weestimate that in 10 years the number of Asian Americans in theExecutive/Administrators rank will increase by a factor of 3 inall mainstream corporations/ firms/ universities/ institutions/governments.

Unfortunately, Mr. George W. Bush, the only Republican runningfor president in 2004, has not yet responded to 80-20's questionnaire.

As a result, 80-20 urges Asian Americans to

(a) vote for any of the above 8 candidates during the DemocraticPRIMARY elections, taking into account their promptness inanswering the questionnaire(b) withhold financial and other forms of support from Mr.Bush's 2004 campaign until he has responded with yes/yes/yes to80-20's questionnaire.

If Mr. Bush also answers yes/yes/yes, then, whoever gets elected inNov., our children will get equal opportunity in workplaces.

So hold firm. Don't contribute to Mr. Bush, UNTIL he respondspositively. Any APA who gives to his campaign before he respondspositively is hurting OUR CHILDREN'S chance to win equal opportunity!PASS THAT MESSAGE.

The above rules do NOT apply in the GENERAL election. Aftereach major party has elected a nominee, 80-20 will hold anEndorsement Convention. Delegates to the Convention will be electedfrom and by our dues-paying members. The composition of Delegatesshall be 1/3 Republicans, 1/3 Independents and 1/3 Democrats. Theendorsement criteria shall be DEEDS done by either party in thepreceding 4 years, and the response to 80-20's questionnaire. Fordetails see Article 7 of 80-20's Bylaws. Please visithttp://80-20initiative.net/bylaw.html . TOGETHER, we'll overcome.

Thursday, January 08, 2004

SENATOR JOE LIEBERMAN OF CONNECTICUT just became the 7th of 9 Democratic presidential candidates to answer YES/YES/YES to 80- 20's questionnaire. The goal of shattering the glass ceiling through the enforcement of the Exec. Order 11246 is a step closer.

To learn more about EO 11246 and how it affects you and see the7 signatures, visit http://80-20initiative.net/preselect.html .

1. Our supporters in CONNECTICUT: They sent numerous faxes & e-mails to Sen. Lieberman under the leadership of two 80-20 Boardmembers, Profs. Peter Luh & Jerry Yang, both of CT. They identifiedthemselves as citizens of CT & urged him to sign with yes/yes/yes.

2. Our supporters in NEW HAMPSHIRE: Upon the request of theNational 80-20, these supporters either personally confronted Sen.Lieberman or his campaign staff in Meet The Candidates gatheringsor called his campaign headquarters in NH to request a positiveresponse from Sen. Lieberman.

Congressman Dick Gephardt still has not signed. WE LOOK TO our supporters IN MISSOURI & IOWA TO DELIVER Rept. Gephardt.

After that we'll focus in on getting President George W. Bush's positive response.